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Samuel Allen

(1874-1945)

Samuel E. S. Allen was born in Philadelphia. A very intelligent man, he passed the Yale entrance exam at the age of sixteen and held a masters degree by the time he was twenty. Allen had ascended the Matterhorn and a number of other peaks in the Alps prior to becoming one of the first to explore the Lake Louise area. He first visited the Canadian Rockies in 1891, visiting Illecillewaet neve, Emerald Lake, the fossil beds on Mount StephenWalter Wilcox in Banff. Allen climbed Mount RundleFairview MountainMount VictoriaWalter Wilcox, and three others paid $12 per week for accommodation, meals, and the use of horses and a boat. Allen and Wilcox had both visited the area before and had failed in attempts to climb Mount Victoria and Mount TempleMount LefroyMount AberdeenWenkchemna Pass, visiting the Eagle Eyrie and reaching Opabin Pass from where he named Mount BiddleMount HuberRingrose PeakAbbot Pass. The following day Allen and Carryer climbed to the col now known as Wiwaxy Gap from which Allen enjoyed, "the most consummate view, from an artistic view, that I have ever seen in the Rockies."